UNH cut the deficit to two on a power play when UNH freshman winger Steph Jones found the net after winning a loose puck in traffic at the 9:25 mark. Winger Annie Fahlenbrock then made the score 4-3 on a deflection that snuck inside the right post with 3:29 left in regulation.

UNH kept the pressure on in the final minutes, but couldn’t find the game-tying goal. Harvard was just as unlucky on its attempts for an insurance goal, as Corriero hit a post on an empty net, and a McAuliffe shot went wide down the stretch.

Like the Dec. 12 game against Connecticut and the 3-2 loss to Minnesota on Nov. 18, Harvard had a two-goal lead cut to one in the final minutes. But like the UConn win and unlike the Minnesota loss, Harvard persevered.

“We knew what we didn’t want to happen,” Hagerman said. “So we just worked on good defense, keeping it down low, and minimizing our mistakes.”

UNH Coach Karen Kay considered the game just as winnable as her team’s losses to unranked Connecticut and Providence in the past two weeks.

“I think we’re a better team than Harvard. Not to take anything away—they won the game. But I think we’re a better team,” Kay said.